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Galathil - Ranger
'Lord Galathil Shatterbrook' AKA Raimon Stafford Class: Ranger Level: 3 Race: Half Elf Allignment: Neutral Good Motivations: Galathil started off his journey with the view that fate led the way for everyone, and to this day he still clings to this idea. Galathil also believes in the idea that all of the worlds inhabitants can live together in peace, and has caused world changin events in attempt to make this happen. His eyes are beginning to open to the fact that this may never happen, yet he still thinks it can. Icon Relationships: N2 with The Three and C1 with the Dragon Emperor One Unique Thing: Caused the first Dragon War in attempt to unite mortals and dragons. Known as the Dragon Ryder and the Betrayer Backstory To My Dearest Mother and Father, If you are reading this message, then I am most likely dead. Please rest assured that I have done everything in my power since leaving the village to bring honor and glory to the Shatterbrook family and our elven community. However, I fear that I have done the opposite. All I have ever believed in is change, and in the idea that Axis has not reached the pinnacle of the great empire’s potential. Axis and its inhabitants have closed their eyes to possibilities and the fact that things do not always have to be what they once were. The empire’s focus is set on good, of this I have always been sure of. However, there are parts of this great metropolis that need changing and I believed that I could bring about that change on my own. While I believe the goal is still achievable, I feel that a very unlikely change must come from some very prominent figures in the world. Unfortunately for the good of the empire, people in high places ten to have the most mud caked eyes. I understand that this may seem like the mutterings of a mad man, but please know that this all made perfect sense at one point to your son. Let me try to explain. The world around us has existed in the ever expanding metropolis of Axis. The great empire has always sought peace and a common wellbeing for everyone that they encounter. They have left our elven civilizations to be run at our own leisure and how our ancestors have shown us to be. Our alliance with Axis has greatly helped each of the Broken Shards and we have prospered greatly since that time. However, most of us consider that enough, and this my dear parents is a veil that Axis must tear. No civilization has ever reached its true potential, and as citizens we must always look to find ways to better it. It is known that Axis has rarely been at complete peace with surrounding nations, and there is always a battle afoot. The most common of these constant quarrels is with the race of dragons. The common enemy of almost every civilized race known to this world is and always has been dragons. Why must this be? Can we change it? Could we as a people bring about a peace that no emperor or leader could? This is the way I thought as a child and while this is the earth I still believe in, my road was filled with stumbling blocks, most of all my ignorance. To know the full extent of my story of late, we must revisit some horror that we all know to be very real in our world today. As you well know, the first appearances of the Dragon War began about ten years ago. What our race and the empire as a whole have experienced through this time has been tragic. The empire remains confident in their strength to stay away from the fighting however the evidence has proven otherwise. The Dragon War has claimed the lives of too many innocent people for the empire to believe that this is under control. The fighting on the outskirts of empire cities and the outlying villages has led to massive collateral damage and innocent killings. There is so much destruction and sorrow because of this war that it pains me to tell you this, even after my death, but all this is because of me. I am the Dragon Ryder, or as most people refer to me, the Betrayer. I know that this cannot be undone, and I wish it could. I wish with all of me that I could go back and undo some of what I have done and set it right. I would do things so much differently if I could turn back time, but even the Archmage himself cannot reconcile this past for me. Though these events have perspired and my time on this earth is done, I still wish for you to know all that I believe and attempted to do for this kingdom, for our community, and for you. It all began when I was wandering through the woods on a solo expedition throughout an outlying forest not far from our village. I am not sure how I got to where I ended up. Truth be told, I never figured out this pathway, although the woods have been my home for years. I was never seeking, never searching for what I stumbled upon in what I believe to be our wood. At a point in my travels I found myself pass a clearing and there in front of my lay an oasis of which I had never laid eyes on before. There were waterfalls gleaming in the sunlight, flowers blooming in such vivid colors that it made the robes of the Priestess look dull, and fruits and nuts so succulent and so savory that I never wanted to return to any chef in the empire again. I made camp that night in the paradise I had discovered. When I awoke in the soft patchy grass I gazed behind one of the green hills on the far side of the clearing and there lay in front of me a most terrifying sight; a dragon. I froze. Terrifying in legend and bedtime story, yet the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on. The drake lay there in the grass with bright white scales from head to tail. Everything inside of me screamed at the highest volume to run; run and not to look back. However when I got up the courage to move, the dragon’s eyes opened, and looked directly into mine. For a moment, I believed that this would be the end of my life here on this earth, but he only continued to look. In that moment, I found myself discovering something about this ancient tarragon, the emotion found in his stare was the same as I felt, fear. I ran. In a drastic attempt to escape the impending doom that I knew to be ahead, I ran. However, once safely home I could not comprehend what had actually happened. Had it been a dream? If so, why had it felt so real? If the meeting was fact, then why was one of the most magnificent and feared creatures in all of history afraid of me? I could not let it go. My curiosity ate at me from the inside as if it were about to burst. I had to go back. As time progressed I began to speak with the dragon throughout my visits in the common tongue and in the ancient language of dragons which was taught to me as time went on. I began to learn of his origins over five years and how he came to be a dragon in solitude. He referred to himself as the Lonely Dragon and began to find intrigue in my curiosities. This drake was one of the icons of old. The Three all-powerful dragons were once four until a struggle for power between the Three left the Lonely Dragon with a desire to be separated from them. Their ways of viewing the world around them were never the same as the achromatic dragon. Most dragons believe in a world where their distinguished nature upstaged every mortal in existence and because of this, the mortals lives mean nothing. This is why the dragons have no concern for the mortal people of today’s world and ages of old. It is not a hatred, nor a discrepancy with them, it is the simple fact that they believe that they are leagues greater than common mortals. This idea, the Lonely Dragon could not accept, and this my dear parents is where I learned not to accept what is given to us. Due to this, the Lonely Dragon hatched a plan with help from two of the greatest powers this world has ever known to remove himself from The Four and live a life of solitude, away from the bestial ravenous nature of the dragons. Our beloved Emperor found consultation with the drake I have come to know. With the powers of the Dragon Emperor and the Archmage combined, the Lonely Dragon disappeared into hiding forever and the Emperor became the immortal being he is today. Yes parents, the Dragon Emperor is in part, a fraud. There was no glorious battle between the evil white dragon and there was no slaying of said dragon to be made into a throne of dragon bone to mark the ultimate victory of the empire over evil; only an illusion created by the two who make up our world today. Make no mistake about it; this was all done for the good of Axis. There is no man better fitted for the ruling of this great land than he who sits upon the thrones currently, but the tales and songs have it wrong. With the Four diminished to the Three, the Lonely Dragon sat in hiding for many years while the Emperor sat on the throne and ruled with the Archmage at his side. With the friendship that had come about between me and the Lonely Dragon, it seemed to me that change was possible. The world around us did not have to be the way it has always been, there are means of change and I had discovered it. With this new found belief I set out to change the world. I set out to meet the three most powerful dragons the realm has ever known and change the way they felt about mortals, as I had done with the Lonely Dragon. The road was long, and the journey difficult but I eventually found a path to the Three. As I walked toward the lair I was astonished I found the home of the Three so much different from the oasis that I had stumbled upon the Lonely Dragon. Stone walls as far as the eye could see. The torches were dim and vision impaired, and every step taken was another feeling of fear eating at the back of my neck and perforating all hope of survival. Yet, I carried on, with only the idea in my mind that any fate that would await me at the end of this horror was worth the change that I meant to bring about. There at the end of the damp dark cavern that I had explored, sat a dragon courier. It was neither of the Three I had meant to seek counsel with, hope of peace between myself and this dragon was all but impossible. As the dragon lay in slumber an idea passed through my mind, maybe this was not the way. Maybe the reason I had stumbled onto the dragon I met in the first place was fate. Fate had brought me there; fate knew I was meant for a greater purpose. With fate on my side, I could not fail in finding safe passage to the Three. I was right. As I turned back and searched the maze of caverns more I doubled back, turned left and right, climbed walls, and down chutes. Eventually, some would call it by luck and I, fate, I ended up face to face with the Three. The three drakes were as beautiful and sovereign as the white dragon himself. One as red as crimson, his eyes burning with a golden glow that resembled the finest jewels in the kingdom of Atlas sat upon a boulder looking back and forth between the other two and myself. The black seemed to only to look at the ground. His onyx scales gleamed in the dim torchlight and on his back sat prominent spikes from head to the tip of the tail. The last green drake could not separate his gaze from mine. Dusty emeralds seemed to cover the dragon’s feet and tail while the rest of the body stood only watching, thinking. The dragons turned to me in utter shock, yet this shock was not similar to the fear I saw in the eyes of the pearl dragon. This emotion was nothing but bestial rage. A rage at the idea that something so small, so insignificant would dare sneak onto the most powerful beings in the entire world. As their gaze peered deeply into mine the black and red dragon let out a wild roar that sent chills down my entire body. The fear of imminent death stabbed at my thoughts, and I ran. Weeks later I received a letter from a strange courier. The seal was a bright green wax with an emerald embedded in the center of the stamp. The letter wished for me to search out a clearing among the South River beneath our village. The author apologized for the last visit and agreed that fate had brought us together and fate would save the world. The green drake… As if he could read my mind and know what I desired most. This creature was the one of the Three that looked on me with questions instead of rage, the only one I could even bring myself to relate to the Lonely Dragon himself. Fate had shown me a way yet again, or so I thought. The meeting with the dragon was short, yet he told me of this wonderful plan to bring about the Dragon Emperor and the people of Axis together in the same area to witness the wonderful power of dragons. He explained that the rumored City of Chains beneath Axis was true. The Archmage himself draws power from the long forgotten gods and uses them for the greater good. This dragon however hatched a plan to show the Archmage and the Emperor the powers of dragon magic. With this magic, Axis would grow into a metropolis more powerful than they ever could have dreamt of. With only one voluntary dragon spell from the green drake himself, Axis would finally find capability for ultimate peace. The plan seemed perfect, a way to bring about a better world, a way to make peace between dragons and mortals, and a way to change the way people thought about this world they were handed. As I departed from the dragon with joyous anxiousness, I found myself unable to wait for this to be. Not two days after my meeting with the dragon, I returned. I returned to not find the emerald drake in the clearing I had met with him, so I went to the only place I knew he would be. Again with trust in fate, I climbed, turned, and explored my way through the dark caverns of the lair. As I approached the area I had before visited, I heard conflict, voices being raised in an inferno of anger. As I peeked around the corner I saw that this contention was between the Three. The green dragon sat on one side of the dimly lit cave alone and backed into a corner, attempting to defend himself from the onslaught coming from the other two. Opposing the emerald drake were the crimson and black dragon with a barbaric look in their eyes, rage roared from their mouths at their brother tarragon in their native dragon tongue. Through listening to the encounter I learned of a terrible truth. The black and red dragon had discovered that their other kin had spoken with the half elven mortal and struck a deal with him. As the green dragon verbally defended himself over and over eventually words spewed from his mouth like poison to my heart, “It was only a trap, a ploy! You know I would never betray my brethren and commune with a mortal if not for the good of our blood. The mortal race would have been ours if only I could have brought the elf to believe my story. Brothers, I’m sorry.” At this, the two became enraged, there was no plea that could have been made to justify his actions in the eyes of his dragonkin; the excuses only rose aggression. The two lashed out at the green dragon and stuck a blow in a hailstorm of monstrous animosity. The Three looked almost confused as to what had just taken place. Dragon had been at peace with one another for thousands of years, never once turning on one another and always living in harmony with one another. Terror struck the green dragon, as he fled the burrow with sorrow and betrayal in his eye; the two remaining only stood and watched. All I knew at that moment was that I could not return, could not go back to what I had always known. I could not even return to the Lonely Dragon in fear that he too was betraying my love and trust in him. Mother and Father, I am sorry I lied to you. I am sorry that I told you I was running to the capital in search of fame and glory. In reality, I only wanted to escape my past, and leave you in a better position, without me. Had knowledge come to you or anyone in the town that I was the cause of this, I did not wish to think what would have happened to you or any of the family. I only thought that I could change the world for the better, that one day all mortals could commune with these majestic beasts and live in a better tomorrow. Yet, I only brought about a Dragon War that may never end. I was young and ignorant, and while I still wish that we could live in that type of world, I fear that the people who could make it possible may not be willing to do so. I thought I was that person, I thought I could do it. I’m sorry I could not. If I am dead, then please know that I did everything in my power to bring this theory to pass. Whether you think of me now as one who betrayed his own race in a feeble attempt to do the impossible, or you still believe in the world I so desire and think it a noble cause, I will understand. I only wish that you still think of me as your son, in shame or glory. I love you both, - Lord Galathil Shatterbrook The Betrayer The Dragon Ryder